A decent detective title that will often challenge, delight and entertain you throughout a reasonably sizeable adventure. Another solid example within its genre that ticks all of the boxes and provides an enjoyable experience for the player.

Unfortunately, good artistic design just can't fully make up for a few glaring flaws. If you can see past those flaws, though, you'll find an enjoyable game that will help you waste a few hours. If not, this might be one to leave off your Christmas list.

If there's any real fault of Crime Lab, it's that it doesn't do anything particularly new or interesting. It's a well-crafted game that anyone looking the pass the time on a bus ride or a lunch break could have a grand old time with, but it does little to tantalize the senses of capture the imagination.

Crime Lab: Body of Evidence is undeniably an ambitious game, but it comes off as below average due to its strange attempt to blend the accessibility of casual games with the tedious and confusing puzzles found in lackluster adventure games.

Crime Lab isn't the worst DS game we've seen, as the mini-games do manage to keep it from being a cold case. That said, the weak writing and otherwise plodding gameplay make it a mystery not worth tackling.

It's easy to pick up and play in short bursts, which does suit a handheld if you're looking for a budget time-waster, but in the end, this body of evidence should steer most people away from a game that's guilty of sucking all the life out of its own potential.

This shows me a studio that wants your money for the first hour of gameplay and is happy not to polish anything past what most people might play. As much as I appreciate going the extra mile and giving people different ways to "minigame" a solution to a puzzle, there's something to be said for totally dropping the ball on instructing people on how to do so.